Chapter Summaries

Ye Chen arrived in Xiling City and found Murong Qingcheng under attack by Duan Lengya. After swiftly defeating Lin Ku and severing Duan Lengya’s arm, Ye Chen faced two more young men who intervened to stop him.

• Duan Lengya attacked Murong Qingcheng, but Ye Chen arrived and confronted him with Lin Ku.
• Lin Ku struck Ye Chen with his saber, and Ye Chen wounded him with a single sword sweep.
• Duan Lengya sent two ice dragons at Ye Chen, who destroyed them, severed Duan Lengya’s right arm, and kicked him into the street.
• Lin Ku tried to flee and threw an Armor-Breaking Throwing Knife, but Ye Chen caught it and pursued him with Sword Qi.
• A stern young man stopped Ye Chen’s Sword Qi, while the red-moled young man condemned Ye Chen and vowed to eliminate him.

Ye Chen confronted Mu Yunhe and Lin Tian after they condemned him, then overwhelmed Mu Yunhe in combat. Lin Tian stepped in to challenge Ye Chen, claiming confidence in his close-combat strength.

• Ye Chen called Mu Yunhe and Lin Tian vicious dogs and refused to surrender, provoking Mu Yunhe into attacking.
• Ye Chen knocked Mu Yunhe back with one sword strike, then shattered his Essence-Breaking Hand with the Golden Sword.
• Ye Chen used his speed and a lightning-charged sword strike to send Mu Yunhe flying and leave him badly injured.
• Lin Tian attacked Ye Chen with a blade strike, but Ye Chen split its radiance apart and recognized Lin Tian as a body-tempering expert.
• Lin Tian challenged Ye Chen to test their close-combat strength while Mu Yunhe withdrew and glanced coldly at Murong Qingcheng.

Ye Chen defeated Mu Yunhe and faced Lin Tian in a contest of strength above Xiling City. Lin Tian activated the Tiger Demon Blood-Severing Art and launched a deadly saber strike, which Ye Chen met with both swords as their clash continued.

• Ye Chen struck Mu Yunhe with Heavenly Thunder Severance, sending him crashing down beside Duan Lengya.
• The onlookers recognized Ye Chen and watched as he confronted Lin Tian above Xiling City.
• Lin Tian and Ye Chen traded powerful blows, and Ye Chen judged that Lin Tian had greater raw strength while he surpassed him in other areas.
• Lin Tian activated the Tiger Demon Blood-Severing Art, overdraw-ing his potential to increase his power.
• Lin Tian charged with the Tiger Demon Blade, and Ye Chen met him with the Golden Sword and a second sword, their weapons clashing fiercely.

Ye Chen defeated Lin Tian after breaking through the defenses of his Heavenly Net Armor, then left Xiling City with Murong Qingcheng. News of his victories spread throughout the Heavenly Martial Domain, prompting Dugu Jue to resolve to challenge him once he was ready.

• Lin Tian activated the Heavenly Net Armor and insisted on continuing his fight with Ye Chen, who revealed his Half-Supreme Thunder Calamity Sword.
• Ye Chen evaded Lin Tian’s attacks and repeatedly struck the Heavenly Net Armor until it shattered, leaving Lin Tian gravely weakened.
• Ye Chen left with Murong Qingcheng without pursuing the injured Lin Ku, while the crowd predicted Ye Chen would become famous throughout the world.
• News of Ye Chen’s victories over Lin Ku, Duan Lengya, Mu Yunhe, and Lin Tian spread across the Heavenly Martial Domain.
• Dugu Jue heard of Ye Chen’s rise and vowed to challenge him after he qualified to challenge Xiao Chuhe.

Ye Chen and Murong Qingcheng left Desolate Ridge Town after an auction, carrying two of the spirit herbs needed to make an antidote for Shadowless Poison. They survived an ambush by men using Divine Martial Puppet Cannons, but Ghost Shadow Pavilion assassins soon revealed that they had been hired to kill Ye Chen and capture Murong Qingcheng.

• Murong Qingcheng thanked Ye Chen for gathering nearly all the ingredients needed to cure her mother, Su Ruhui, of Shadowless Poison.
• A group of attackers planned to rob Ye Chen and Murong Qingcheng, believing Ye Chen carried a fortune in High-Grade Spirit Stones.
• Ye Chen pulled Murong Qingcheng out of the way of a Puppet Cannon blast as they approached the edge of the Mist Concealment Formation.
• The attackers fired their three Divine Martial Puppet Cannons, but Ye Chen deflected a blast and Murong Qingcheng used Darkness Veil to block their ability to track the pair.
• Ghost Shadow Pavilion assassins intercepted the fleeing attackers, killed them, and took their Puppet Cannons.
• The assassins revealed that Frost Ice Pavilion had hired Ghost Shadow Pavilion to kill Ye Chen and capture Murong Qingcheng, and their Deputy Hall Master chose to wait for a safer opportunity.

While secluded in Profound Nether City, Ye Chen developed a new Gold Essence sword technique called Golden Ripples. At a restaurant, he learned that Xiahou Zun would challenge Bai Wuxue at Nine Dragon Mountain and realized Xiahou Zun had a version of the same Void Piercing Finger he possessed; Ye Chen decided to attend the match and study it.

• Ye Chen used the Five Elements cycle to refine his Gold Essence swordsmanship, then completed the prototype move Golden Ripples, whose concentrated power surpassed Golden Radiance Annihilation Sword.
• After the skies cleared, Ye Chen and Murong Qingcheng walked through Profound Nether City and heard that Xiahou Zun would challenge Bai Wuxue on the eighteenth of September at Nine Dragon Mountain.
• Ye Chen and Murong Qingcheng discussed the Five Great Prodigies and the rumors that Ye Chen was the strongest young expert beneath them.
• Ye Chen learned that Xiahou Zun's Void Piercing Finger contained Space Profundity and recognized it as another move from the same source as his own.
• Ye Chen decided to go to Nine Dragon Mountain to watch Xiahou Zun and learn from his Void Piercing Finger, then left the restaurant with Murong Qingcheng.
• Restaurant patrons recognized Ye Chen as the young expert who had defeated Lin Tian after he and Murong Qingcheng had already departed.

Ye Chen and Murong Qingcheng were trapped in the Ghost Shadow Pavilion’s Seven Absolute Ghost Shadow Formation and fought off assassins who attacked through shifting shadows. After the pair killed several attackers, the remaining elites learned their abilities, and Ye Chen opened his Soul Eye to reveal them all.

• Forty-nine Ghost Shadow Pavilion assassins formed a shadow barrier around Ye Chen’s manor and entered under the command of a Vice Hall Master.
• Ye Chen and Murong Qingcheng identified the barrier’s shadow attacks, and Murong Qingcheng used Darkness Veil to protect them briefly.
• An assassin stabbed Ye Chen, but he had turned into a shadow and killed the attacker from behind.
• Murong Qingcheng used her Devil Eye and Soul Extinction Wave to expose and kill assassins, while Ye Chen killed others; four assassins died in total.
• The remaining elite assassins recognized Ye Chen’s Essence of Shadow and Murong Qingcheng’s Devil Eye, and Ye Chen opened his Soul Eye to reveal them.

Ye Chen and Murong Qingcheng defeated a Ghost Shadow Pavilion assassination squad after Murong Qingcheng revealed her Black Bat Wings and Ye Chen killed the Deputy Hall Master. Half a month later, they learned that one of the materials they sought was held by a Sixth-Rank Sect along their route to Nine Dragon Mountain, and they set out for it.

• Ye Chen used his Soul Eye and Golden Ripples to kill several Ghost Shadow Pavilion assassins while the others targeted Murong Qingcheng.
• Murong Qingcheng revealed her Black Bat Wings and used Soaring Sky Assassin Slash to fight off the assassins as Ye Chen broke through the formation and killed the remaining attackers.
• The Ghost Shadow Pavilion Deputy Hall Master ambushed Ye Chen, but Ye Chen withstood his strike using the Dragon Bone Defense Layer, and Murong Qingcheng’s Soul Extinction Wave helped Ye Chen kill him.
• The forty-nine assassins maintaining the formation dispelled it and fled, while Ye Chen and Murong Qingcheng survived the failed assassination.
• Half a month later, Zhi Mo Wen reported that a Sixth-Rank Sect along the route to Nine Dragon Mountain controlled one of the materials, so Ye Chen and Murong Qingcheng set out toward the sect.

Ye Chen and Murong Qingcheng failed to obtain a Phoenix Tail Fruit from Flowing Spring Valley, but Hua Yingmei gave them a map to the Savage Mountain Range and received rare herbs in return. They traveled to Nine Dragon Mountain for Xiahou Zun and Bai Wuxue’s challenge match, where famous experts gathered and the story left the contest still one day away.

• Hua Yingmei told Ye Chen that Flowing Spring Valley’s only Phoenix Tail Fruit had already been refined into pills and gave him a map to where the Phoenix Tail Tree had been found in the Wildfire Domain.
• Ye Chen gave Hua Yingmei herbs needed to refine supreme-grade Heaven Spirit Pills, and he and Murong Qingcheng departed for Nine Dragon Mountain.
• Ye Chen and Murong Qingcheng encountered Hai Wuyai on the way, and Hai Wuyai described the challenge match’s importance and the grandmasters expected to attend.
• Ye Chen, Murong Qingcheng, and Hai Wuyai arrived at Nine Dragon Lake, where hundreds of Spirit Sea Realm grandmasters and thousands of experts gathered to watch Xiahou Zun and Bai Wuxue.
• Xiao Chuhe, Sword Sect, Dugu Jue, Yan Fengfeng, and Xie Bating arrived at Nine Dragon Lake the day before the challenge match.

At Nine Dragon Lake, Taishi Chong challenged Dugu Jue and was defeated by Dugu Jue’s terrifying true Blade of Despair. After witnessing the fight, Lan Xieqing challenged Ye Chen to take ten moves from him, leaving the crowd eager to see Ye Chen’s strength.

• Ye Chen and Murong Qingcheng observed the gathering of Spirit Sea Realm experts as Tantai Mingyue arrived and joined Dugu Jue among the three monstrous talents.
• Taishi Chong arrived after breaking through to the Late Spirit Sea Realm and challenged Dugu Jue to a rematch.
• Taishi Chong gained the upper hand after three hundred moves and wounded Dugu Jue with his improved Sword of Heaven and Earth.
• Dugu Jue unleashed his true Blade of Despair, knocked Taishi Chong unconscious with one slash, and collapsed from severe mental exhaustion.
• Lan Xieqing dismissed the prospect of challenging the defeated Lin Tian and called on Ye Chen to take ten moves from him.

Ye Chen accepted Lan Xieqing’s ten-move challenge at Nine Dragon Lake and defeated him with little effort. His victory established his reputation as the strongest expert beneath the Five Great Prodigies, while Dugu Jue recognized him as his strongest opponent.

• Ye Chen accepted Lan Xieqing’s ten-move agreement and met him over Nine Dragon Lake.
• Lan Xieqing concealed the lake in mist and attacked Ye Chen with deceptive techniques, but Ye Chen used Speed Sword Prison to find and wound him.
• Lan Xieqing unleashed Mist Sea Rampage and followed it with a hidden blade, but Ye Chen caught the blade between two fingers.
• Ye Chen struck Lan Xieqing with a crescent-shaped Sword Qi on the ninth move, sending him flying and leaving him badly injured.
• Snow Sword Sect judged that Ye Chen had used less than eighty percent of his strength, and the spectators accepted his standing as the strongest expert beneath the Five Great Prodigies.
• Dugu Jue watched Ye Chen’s victory and considered him his strongest opponent.

Bai Wuxue and Xiahou Zun arrived at Nine Dragon Lake and began their long-awaited duel before a crowd of martial artists. After a thousand moves, neither had gained the upper hand, and they prepared to fight with all their strength.

• Ye Chen and his companions spent the night in his Puppet House, where Yan Fengfeng learned that Murong Qingcheng cultivated demonic power.
• Bai Wuxue arrived at Nine Dragon Mountain before Xiahou Zun, and the spectators discussed the absent fifth prodigy, the Godshark Princess.
• Xiahou Zun arrived at Nine Dragon Lake and challenged Bai Wuxue, opening their fight with powerful Mystic Martial Arts.
• Bai Wuxue and Xiahou Zun exchanged a thousand moves, unleashing attacks that froze and shattered the lake while the spectators watched in awe.
• Xiahou Zun said he could not defeat Bai Wuxue without risking his life, and Bai Wuxue agreed to go all out and decide the victor.

Bai Wuxue and Xiahou Zun fought at full strength over Nine Dragon Lake, with Bai Wuxue countering Xiahou Zun’s Meteor Finger and Comet Finger attacks. As Xiahou Zun began using the Void Piercing Finger, Ye Chen focused on comprehending the power of space.

• Xiahou Zun unleashed Meteor Finger attacks, and Bai Wuxue absorbed them with his crystalline ancient tree before sending them back with greater force.
• Xiahou Zun used Sky Drawing to defend against the counterattack, then struck Bai Wuxue with Comet Finger.
• Bai Wuxue met the Comet Finger with a swelling branch from his ancient tree, and their clash shook the sky above Nine Dragon Lake.
• Bai Wuxue crushed Xiahou Zun’s next Comet Finger attack with a jade-green hand and challenged him to use his strongest technique and Void Piercing Finger.
• Xiahou Zun gathered the surrounding power of space to perform Void Piercing Finger, while Ye Chen observed it and deepened his comprehension of Space Profundity.

Bai Wuxue and Xiahou Zun fought over Nine Dragon Lake, with Bai Wuxue using the Profundity of Life to counter Xiahou Zun’s Space Profundity and Star Core Finger. Their clash left both badly injured and the winner uncertain, while Ye Chen suddenly advanced his mastery of the Void Piercing Finger to seventy percent.

• Bai Wuxue blocked Xiahou Zun’s Void Piercing Finger with a self-repairing shield powered by the Profundity of Life.
• Xiahou Zun used his Star Core Finger to draw in and compress Bai Wuxue’s True Essence, disrupting his attacks and defense.
• Bai Wuxue overwhelmed the Star Core Finger’s limit with his True Essence, but Xiahou Zun detonated the compressed sphere and sent him flying.
• Bai Wuxue struck Xiahou Zun from beneath Nine Dragon Lake with the Spear of Life, shattering his Protective True Essence and badly injuring him.
• The onlookers could not tell whether Bai Wuxue or Xiahou Zun had won because both were wounded.
• Ye Chen’s spatial fluctuations surged as he raised his Void Piercing Finger mastery from sixty to seventy percent.

Ye Chen reflected on his Space Profundity and judged that his Golden Ripples could rival Xiahou Zun’s strongest techniques. After Bai Wuxue defeated Xiahou Zun at Nine Dragon Lake, Elder Gao Changtian announced that Zhi Mo Wen would publish its first Grandmaster Ranking on October tenth.

• Ye Chen concluded that Golden Ripples combined with Destruction Sword Intent could match a Void Piercing Finger at about eighty percent mastery.
• Murong Qingcheng told Ye Chen that Bai Wuxue and Xiahou Zun were both badly injured, and their exchange revealed that Bai Wuxue had won with his Spear of Life.
• Elder Gao Changtian announced that Zhi Mo Wen would compile a yearly Grandmaster Ranking with seventy-two places and publish its first edition on October tenth.
• Gao Changtian said Bai Wuxue and Xiahou Zun could rank in the top fifteen, while Xie Bating was a candidate for the top five.
• Gao Changtian told Ye Chen that he had an excellent chance of being included in the ranking.

At Nine Dragon Lake, Dugu Jue challenged Ye Chen to a duel one year later, and Ye Chen accepted. Xiao Chuhe defeated Shen Qianlang with his Sea-Splitting Blade, earned a place in the Grandmaster Ranking’s top fifteen, and challenged Lu Shaoyou for a match in one year as the gathering ended.

• Dugu Jue challenged Ye Chen to fight him at Nine Dragon Lake one year later, and Ye Chen agreed.
• Shen Qianlang challenged Xiao Chuhe to settle their past defeat and reclaim his former standing as a blade grandmaster.
• Xiao Chuhe split Shen Qianlang’s strongest attack and defeated him, leaving Shen injured and relieved to be free of the pressure to challenge him again.
• Gao Changtian declared that Xiao Chuhe could enter the Grandmaster Ranking’s top fifteen.
• Xiao Chuhe challenged Lu Shaoyou to fight him one year later, and Lu Shaoyou accepted.
• Ye Chen and the others left as the gathering at Nine Dragon Lake ended and its events began spreading across the Heavenly Martial Domain.

Ye Chen and Murong Qingcheng searched the Savage Mountain Range for a Phoenix Tail Tree, hoping to find a Phoenix Tail Fruit to treat the Shadowless Poison. They encountered Black Wind Leopard, who tried to extort them and claim Murong Qingcheng, and the chapter ended as the confrontation began.

• Ye Chen killed a four-clawed demonic bird near Ironfeather River, while Yin Demon Sect and Tianqin Sect Disciple discussed targeting him for the secret art of the Undying Body.
• Ye Chen and Murong Qingcheng entered the Savage Mountain Range and searched for the Phoenix Tail Tree using Hua Yingmei's map.
• Ye Chen detected a fog-shrouded valley, and Murong Qingcheng used Devil Eye to identify Black Wind Leopard and signs of spiritual energy within.
• Black Wind Leopard demanded one hundred thousand High-Grade Spirit Stones and Murong Qingcheng in exchange for a Phoenix Tail Fruit, though Ye Chen suspected it had none.
• Black Wind Leopard's subordinates attacked Ye Chen, who destroyed their demonic-power assault with a finger strike, while Murong Qingcheng followed with Soul Extinction Wave.

Ye Chen and Murong Qingcheng learned that the Phoenix Tail Fruit was on Myriad Bears Mountain and traveled there to find it. They discovered that members of the Tianqin Sect and Yin Demon Sect had followed them and were already conspiring with the mountain’s demonic beasts.

• Ye Chen and Murong Qingcheng defeated the Black Wind Leopard, which revealed that Xiong Ba on Myriad Bears Mountain might have the Phoenix Tail Fruit.
• Ye Chen collected Black Ant Grass and other rare spirit plants from the leopard’s herb garden, then spared the Black Wind Leopard.
• Ye Chen and Murong Qingcheng traveled to Myriad Bears Mountain, where Ye Chen’s Soul Force scan was blocked by three powerful presences on the main peak.
• The Tianqin Sect Disciple and the Yin Demon Sect’s colorful-robed elder revealed that they had tracked Ye Chen and Murong Qingcheng there for the Phoenix Tail Fruit.
• Xiong Ba agreed to help the sects capture Ye Chen and Murong Qingcheng in exchange for their treasures and Murong Qingcheng.

Ye Chen and Murong Qingcheng went to Myriad Bears Mountain to negotiate for a Phoenix Tail Fruit, but Xiong Ba and the other demons joined forces with Yin Demon Sect and Tianqin Sect Disciple to attack them. Ye Chen summoned his level-ten Dream-Eating Wolf, whose dream ability began trapping their enemies as Tianqin Sect Disciple fled.

• Murong Qingcheng used her Devil Eye to find the Phoenix Tail Tree beneath Myriad Bears Mountain’s main peak.
• Ye Chen and Murong Qingcheng asked Xiong Ba to sell them a Phoenix Tail Fruit, but Xiong Ba demanded their wealth and Murong Qingcheng instead.
• Yin Demon Sect and Tianqin Sect Disciple appeared and joined Xiong Ba, the snake demon, and the eagle demon in attacking Ye Chen and Murong Qingcheng.
• Ye Chen and Murong Qingcheng fought off the demons’ attacks, and Ye Chen shattered Tianqin Sect Disciple’s claw strike before it could hit Murong Qingcheng.
• Ye Chen released his level-ten Dream-Eating Wolf, whose ghostly radiance trapped Xiong Ba, the snake demon, the eagle demon, and Yin Demon Sect in a dream state while Tianqin Sect Disciple escaped.

Ye Chen killed the Yin Demon Sect Disciple and fought the Eagle Demon, whose Wind-Fire Core threatened him. As Murong Qingcheng and the Dream-Eating Wolf battled Xiong Ba, the Tianqin Sect Disciple rushed toward the Wolf to seize it.

• Murong Qingcheng killed the Snake Demon, while Ye Chen closed in and killed the Yin Demon Sect Disciple as he awakened.
• Ye Chen wounded the fleeing Eagle Demon, who unleashed his Wind-Fire Core and attacked with powerful wind and fire.
• The Dream-Eating Wolf helped Murong Qingcheng keep Xiong Ba weakened, and Murong blasted him away with Sky Demon Finger.
• Ye Chen prepared his newly developed Thunder Devour and charged at the Eagle Demon's Wind-Fire Core.
• The Tianqin Sect Disciple seized the chance to rush toward the Dream-Eating Wolf and attempt to capture it.